Teen saved by new "Lifevest" technology

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A 17-year-old girl was saved by a new device recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

4-months-ago Giselle Castro started having some strange symptoms.

"All of a sudden I would get these chest pains, it felt like my heart was coming out, literally," said Giselle Castro.

Her episodes only got worse, and she landed at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with heart failure and gave her a new device called a Lifevest. It would shock her heart if it started to fail.

"That is the same equipment that you would see at the airport. It's an automatic external defibrillator, the same type you would grab off the wall and apply if someone collapsed," said Dr. Andrew Papez.

The vest has four different electrodes that monitor the patients heart rate and then three defibrillators actually shock the hear to bring it back into normal rhythm.

"Her face was like so white, and her lips were purple, and then suddenly it was like she was gone," said Gricelda Quintero.

The Lifevest kicked into gear each time.

"I died and came back," said Giselle.

"Yeah she kind of died and came back to life," said Gricelda.

Giselle now has an internal defibrillator. Both she and her mom are grateful for the Lifevest that carried her through.

"I think it's pretty cool that I'm still alive after everything that's been happening," said Giselle.

Giselle is one of 15 patients in Arizona who've been saved by a LifeVest this year.

Giselle now has an *internal defibrillator and is on the wait list for a heart transplant.